Valve for dental plates



Oct. 7 1924.

'A. H. R. BERTHOLD VALVE FOR DENTAL PLATES Filed Nov 7 Patented Get. 7, 1924.

ABTHUR'H. R. BERTHOLD, OF CHICAGO,

ILLINOIS, assrenon TO INTERNATIONAL DENTAL MANUFACTURING COI'ICPANY, Q3 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.-

vatvn roe, DENTAL rne'rns.

Application filed November 7, 1921. Serial No. 513,278.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, ARTHUR H. R. BER- THOLD, a citizen of Germany, having declared his intentions of becoming a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in a Valve for Dental Plates, of whichthe following is a specification.

My present invention relates to dental apphances, and has more particular reference to a valve for controlling a port through the plates or bodies of artificial dentures 1 through which air and saliva may be drawn from back of the plate for the purpose of securing more perfect contact and creatinga slight vacuumwhereby to seat and retain the plate more securely in the mouth of the wearer.

As is well known to the dental profession,

as well as to persons using artificial dentures,

, no little difliculty is experienced in providthe twisting of the lower aw. Likewise, it

ing a plate that will successfully withstand usage and retain its position in themouth during certain muscular actions of the tongue or cheeks, or both, such as occur during acts of laughing, coughing, sneezing, or

is difiicult to retain the plate in position when biting hard of tough substances, such asbiting corn offthe cob, crusts of bread or eating nuts.

made in the ordinary manner, and it is to overcome this defect that I have provided means that will permit the wearer, by a sucking action, to exhaust the air and saliva from back or through the port in the plate,

thereby creating a sufiicient vacuum to firmly and dependably retain the plate in proper position upon the gums.

I am aware that miniature valves have heretofore been designed to permit of the adaptation ofthe principle of the vacuum above mentioned, but, so far as I am aware, such valves have almost uniformly depended upon the vacuum back of the plate to retain'the valves in closed position, which as is commonly known, is not dependable as the amount of vacuum that can be employed or produced is not great, and it is my wish to mechanically maintain the valve in closed position by suitable devices so that the slight vacuum which maybe created will not alone These are inherent objections. to the artificial dental constructions when be depended upon to retain the valve in stantially the manner hereinafter described,

and as more particularly pointed out in'the claims, reference being now made to the accompanying. drawings that form a part hereof: I y

In the drawings: I i Figure 1 is a plan view of my improved valvey' applied to dental plate in the preferred manner, the dimensions of the parts being greatly exaggerated.

Figure 2 is an axial section of the struc-' ture, the view being taken on line 22, Figure 1. I

Figure 8 is a plan of the spring or elastic disk for closing the valve, the same being detached-fromthe structure shown in Figure 1.

In the drawings I haveemployed similar reference characters to designate like parts throughout the views, and for the purpose of clearness the structure has been greatly exaggerated. I I

As shown, the impression plate 5, "which is usually vulca-nite, or the like, or of some desired metal, is provided with ashallow suitably shaped depression 6 upon the palatal side thereof and a small aperture 7'is,

made transversely through the plate at about the center of the depression 6. The casing of the valve structure that fits aperture 7 consists of a hollow shell of any suitable material, the side walls 8 whereof are substantially cylindrical (or any other desired shape) having a laterally projecting peripheral lip or flange!) extended from the outer edge thereof into the surface of plate.

5 upon the lingual side thereof to provide a flush surface around the aperture and to assist in securely retaining the casing in position. It will be understood that other means may be employed for this purpose and still employ the principles herein set forth and come within the scope of my invention.

Extending inwardly from the opposite or inner edge of he cylindrical wall 8 of the casing is a lateral wall 10 that forms the bottom or back of the casing and provides a. cat for the valve body, hereinafter mentioned; said bottom or back wall having a centrally dispose-d aperture 11 and the eX- terior sin "ice of the back wall irrounding this aperture is countersunk, as at 12, and increased in thickness towards the periphoral portion of the countersink. I prefer to so proportion the structure hereinbefore de scribed th the casing will exactly fit aperture 7 in the denture plate and the depth of the casing will substantially correspond with the thickness of plate 5 at the location of the aperture.

The valve comprises a thin disk 13 preferably corresponding in outline with the interior of the casing in which it is positioned, and centrally therefrom extends the stem 14 that projects through aperture 11 and the outer portion whereof is provided with an enlargement or head 15 substantially as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. As seen, the stem 14: at or adjacent the juncture with head 15 is reduced slightly, providing an annular groove 16 tl'iereabout. in order to mechanically seat the valve, 1 have provided a flexible disk 18 of preferably segn'iental shape, that is, a V-shaped recess or slot 19 is formed therein with the vortex of the V positioned at the axis or center of the disk, and preferably terminates in acentrally disposed enlargement or aperture 20 of sufficient size to lit around the grooved portion 16 of the valve stem, as seen. This disk I prefer to make of flat celluloid so that after the valve has been opened, as illus trated in Fig. 2 (in which the disk is concaved into the countersink 12) the flexibility of the disk will pull stem 14 through aperture 11 of the casing and seat the valve. lVhile celluloid has been found very effective in fabricating disk 18. other naterials may be employed that are found to be suit able for the purpose, and if desired the en largement 20 may have a lateral slot 21 to further assist in assembling the disk with. stem 14.

For the purpose of insuring the maintain-- ing of the vacuum back of the denture plate 5 and to prevent lead-rage around the disk and. easing l prefer to interpose a washer or packing 22 between the valve disk 13 and portion of the casing,

seat 10 in the back may be made of soft and this washer 22 rubber. or other suitable material as desired, being provided with a central hole 23 through which stem 14 may pass.

When installed in denture plate the lingual side of the latter presents a smooth surface to the patients tongue, and, owing to the provision of the depressed area 6 in plate 5 no portions of the valve structure will project above the palatal side of the plate to touch the roof of the users mouth, or to irritate the tissues thereof.

It is believed the use of the structure will be obvious from the foregoing description, therefore it suflicient to state that, after an artificial denture has been positioned upon the gums or roof of the mouth, a slight sucking action by the tongue unseats the valve by pulling the valve disk 13 outwardly against the yielding action of the flexible disk 18 which permits the air and saliva that may remain back of the plate to be exhausted through the V-shaped slot or recess 19, the casing aperture 11 and between the casing, washer and valve disk, thus creating a vacuum between the denture plate and the gums or roof of the mouth.

The principles of my valve may be used in conjunction with denture for the lower jaw, and I desire it understood that refinements and modifications of my invention are fully contemplated as coming within the scope of the appended claims. Likewise, it will also be apparent that casing 810, herein described, for carrying and seating valve disk 13 and other associated parts may be dispensed with, and in lieu thereof denture plate 5 may be provided with a suitable aperture and the contiguous portion of the plate shaped to substantially conform with the shaped portions of the casing so that the valve-disk, the flexible disk and other associated parts may be co-operatively assembled with each other and with the den ture plate. This could be readily accomplished by providing a matrix of the desired shape and molding the valve seat the countersink, etc, at the same time the denture plate is fabricated.

What T claim new is:

1. A. suction valve for denture plates comprising a casing of relative small sectional dimension and provided with an aperture, a disk in said casing adapted to close said. aperture. a stem extending from said disk through said aperture, and a diskshapcd spring upon the exterior of said casing and co-acting with the stem, whereby to maintain said disk in a normal position to close said aperture.

2. A suction valve for denture plates comprising a casing of relative small sectional dimension and provided with an aperture, a. disk in said casing adapted to close said aperture, a stem extending from said disk through said aperture, and a spring plate of normally concave section upon the exterior of said casing and coacting with said stem whereby to maintain said disk in a normal position to close said aperture.

3. A suction valve for denture plates comprising a casing of relative small sectional dimension and provided with a central aper ture, a disk in said casing adapted to close said aperture, a stem extending from said disk through said aperture, and a diskshaped spring upon the exterior of said casing and co-acting with the stem to maintain said disk in a normal position to close said aperture, said casing provided with a concave seat on its exterior in Which said sprlng unseated.

Signed at Chicago, county of Cook and State of Illinois, this 15th day of October,

ARTHUR H. R. BERTHQLD. 

